Novo Paid $300 Million Upfront for a Weekly GLP-1/GIP Pill That Has Not Yet Entered Phase 1
- Novo Nordisk said on 29 September 2026 that it will license HRS-1596, a GLP-1/GIP dual receptor agonist designed for once-weekly oral dosing, from Hengrui Pharma. Novo gets global rights outside mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
- Novo pays $300m upfront, and the total potential value is up to $2.6bn including development, regulatory and commercial milestones, plus royalties on sales in its territory. The deal needs US antitrust clearance and is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
- HRS-1596 is described as Phase 1-ready. Hengrui has approval in China to start Phase 1 trials in weight management and type 2 diabetes.
- Novo’s chief scientific officer, Martin Holst Lange, said the company aims to raise the bar for convenience in the field. The same morning, Lilly presented an indirect comparison claiming its daily pill Foundayo outperformed Novo’s highest oral semaglutide dose.
Deal read
Novo paid a clean, large upfront for a convenience advantage it cannot yet prove.
- $300m is 11.5% of the headline, for an asset with no human data. Among the China-sourced deals Synopulse has covered this month, InnoCare disclosed $100m in combined upfront and near-term money from Lilly, BoomRay no upfront at all, and Merck a $400m charge for SciBrunch. Novo’s is the clearest upfront of the group.
- The convenience race is moving to weekly pills. Today’s oral options, Lilly’s Foundayo and Novo’s Wegovy pill, are taken daily. A weekly oral dual agonist would combine the dosing of an injection with the form of a tablet, but it is years from market.
- The first human data will come from Hengrui. Hengrui keeps Greater China and holds the Chinese Phase 1 approval, so early readouts will arrive from its trials. Novo’s near-term oral franchise, meanwhile, faces Lilly’s comparative claims now.